


Who's Vermeer Is This? History & Prologue to Sonnet 14

by Tendergingergirl



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-09 19:22:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17412770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tendergingergirl/pseuds/Tendergingergirl
Summary: November 20, 2017





	Who's Vermeer Is This? History & Prologue to Sonnet 14

##  [~Who’s Vermeer Is This?~](https://tendergingergirl.tumblr.com/post/167719374226/whos-vermeer-is-this)

**Sherlock, The Great Game & The story of the Real-life Vermeer Forger, Who Fooled Art Critics, The Nazis, and the World.**

_**“Henricus Antonius "Han” van Meegeren** (Dutch pronunciation:10 October 1889 – 30 December 1947) was a Dutch painter and portraitist and is considered to be one of the most ingenious art forgers of the 20th century. Despite his life of crime, van Meegeren became a national hero after World War II when it was revealed that he had sold a forged painting to Reichsmarscall, Hermann Goring during the Nazi Occupation of the Netherlands.“_

Han became enthused by the Old Dutch Masters at an early age. He even attended school for a time in Delft, the hometown of one of his favorites, Vermeer. But his father, a Catholic and a schoolteacher, who was very strict, did not want him to study art, and in fact, was quite abusive towards his son. He used to make him write over and over, "I know nothing, I am nothing, I am capable of nothing.” When he was younger…“While attending the Higher Burger School, he met teacher and painter Bartus Korteling (1853–1930) who became his mentor. Korteling had been inspired by Johannes Vermeer and showed the young van Meegeren how Vermeer had manufactured and mixed his colours. As a young man, his early works were popular, but his work, inspired by The Golden Age, was rebuffed by, of all things, other Dutchmen. The critics at that time were more interested in the new movements, and dismissed his talents as technically good but seemingly pale imitations. Upset, Van Meegeren set out to prove them wrong. Feeling that his genius was being over-looked, he decided to create a masterpiece in the style Vermeer, so good, that it would fool even the toughest critics. It took him approximately 6 years of experimentation before he was ready.

_A Memento Mori by Meegeren ‘Vanite’_

_"After having tried his hand at a few typical Vermeer interior composition for whom the artist is renowned, Van Meegeren had what might be called his own stroke of genius. Instead of forging variations of the interiors which could be compared to works hanging in museums, Van Meegeren chose to forge an early Vermeer of a religious theme based on a composition of Caravaggio. Scholars had long suspected that Vermeer had been to Italy and Van Meegeren’s lost painting would have confirmed that. The subject and early technique of the painting also helped to mask his own technical and expressive inadequacies.”_

In 1936, Han painted **_The Supper At Ammaus_** , gave it to a friend, telling him it was a Vermeer, and asked him to show it to Dr. Abraham Bredius, considered 'the Pope’ of the art history circles.

The painting was purchased by The Rembrandt Society…with the aid of wealthy shipowner Willem van der Vorm, and donated to the [Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMuseum_Boijmans_Van_Beuningen&t=ZjE0Njk2NGRjMDNlYWI5ODM3MmVmN2Q3YTBjM2U3NWZhM2JmZDVkNCxLdE1UbnJzWA%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F167719374226%2Fwhos-vermeer-is-this&m=1) in [Rotterdam](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FRotterdam&t=MzE0N2I4MjBkZmYzNTI1MGMzYzJiN2U2NTk5NTI5YmMzYTM4YzgzOCxLdE1UbnJzWA%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F167719374226%2Fwhos-vermeer-is-this&m=1). In 1938, the piece was highlighted in a special exhibition at the Rotterdam museum, along with 450 Dutch masterpieces dating from 1400–1800. A. Feulner wrote in the “Magazine for [the] History of Art”, **“In the rather isolated area in which the Vermeer picture hung, it was as quiet as in a chapel. The feeling of the consecration overflows on the visitors, although the picture has no ties to ritual or church.”**

In an odd turn-a-round, the local Dutch art world was trying desperately to keep valuable art out of the Nazi’s hands. Daringly, Van Meegeren painted a Vermeer forgery, which was traded to Goring for over a 100 other authentic paintings. But when the painting was discovered, Han was arrested and accused of collaborating and treason. He actually had to prove himself a con artist and a swindler, which in the end, he did, by painting a picture in the courtroom and also sharing his techniques. He was considered a hero, by the people.

_Sherlock is standing in front of the Vermeer painting, looking up information on his phone. He calls up subjects such as “Vermeer brush strokes,” “Pigment analysis,” “Canvas degradation,” “UV Light damage,” “Delft Skyline, 1600,” and “Vermeer influences.”_ Vermeer used badger brushes, and Han made his own. As stated earlier, the artist had received early instruction on how to replicate Vermeer’s paint technique, using raw materials (such as lapis lazuli, white lead, indigo, and cinnabar). Han would look for canvases from 1700, scrub the original artwork, and then use that for his forgeries. Vermeer was from Delft, and Han studied there. The white lead found in Dutch paintings from _**1600**_ –1660 had polonium-210 values of 0.23±0.27 and radium-226 values of 0.40±0.47. As already stated, he found out that Caravaggio was suspected as a Vermeer influence. In 1994, a new supernova was discovered. As stated in earlier metas, a collaborator of Dr. David Van Buren, of NASA, one Dr. Thomas Jarret, also of IPAC, noticed that the object appeared in an image captured on March 9, 1992. The technique that Sherlock used to date the painting is called Astronomical Chronology.

Han Van Meegeren was then charged with the lesser crime of fraud, for which he was sentenced to a year( he apparently had already looked up what charges he might actually get, when he started this whole things, years before, so was prepared). Unfortunately, Han Van Meegeren died of a heart attack soon after. Just as he had hoped, he was never forgotten in the art world. His forgery techniques are still studied, both for their brilliance, and to ensure better techniques for studying pieces. His work, both original and 'borrowed’ are also highly prized.

MISS WENCESLAS: I found a little old man in Argentina. Genius. I mean, really: brushwork immaculate, could fool anyone.   
SHERLOCK _(sarcastically)_ : Hm!   
MISS WENCESLAS _(looking at him briefly)_ : Well, _nearly_ anyone.

## Who was she talking about?!

****_“While his claims stretch the bounds of believability to breaking point, they coincide with the discovery of a trove of Nazi memorabilia in the country.”_ Seriously, google 'old man in Argentina. (That’s ALL that pops up! [_X_](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fei%3DbksTWsGdLM6yjwPW5ZegAw%26q%3DThe%2Bold%2Bman%2Bin%2BArgentina%26oq%3DThe%2Bold%2Bman%2Bin%2BArgentina%26gs_l%3Dpsy-ab.3...6605147.11016650.0.11017873.48.29.1.1.1.0.1084.5972.0j4j0j3j2j4j0j1.14.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..33.15.5933...0j46j0i67k1j0i22i30k1j0i22i10i30k1j0i131k1j0i131i67k1j0i46k1j33i22i29i30k1.0.YTRztBEW6QQ&t=ZGQwYTI1YjU5Y2Y3NmZlNTg3Zjc5NWVlZTE3NGU0OWUzYTA0OTMwMSxLdE1UbnJzWA%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F167719374226%2Fwhos-vermeer-is-this&m=1) I believe they call Satire…or another instance of fake news).

Final Note* On the God Janus, also featured in The Great Game. He was considered the God of beginnings, and endings, and also doors, literal and metaphorical… **forwards or backwards**. The Romans, inspired by Janus, used an open/shut front gate to the empire to signal the coming or success of war. But there is also a phrase in the art world. A 'Janus Figure’ is a person who is between the black market and the legitimate market of art dealing. They receive, clean, and sell.

There is a movie, released just last year, and available for free, on Amazon Prime, about Meegeren. _**A Real Vermeer**_

 While subtitled, it is a passionate, and playful movie on this subject. I recently watched it, and it’s awesome.

 


End file.
